From The Start
by AraineHH
Summary: "I had never seen Ino so at ease around anyone like she was with him. Shikamaru it astounded me even more, it was like he finally had finished his puzzle and he was complete. I've never seen either of the more content than they were with each other." Major Shikaino/Inoshika side Shikatema and Inosai
1. Just For Now

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used on the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

There was nothing about the pain in her heart that was fair. Temari was never much of an empathetic person, though she was not as apathetic as Gara once was she still was never the most empathetic person out there. But she was now looking into the eyes of her boyfriend's teammate and closest female friend she couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. There was a broken heart she couldn't see before, such a startling contrast from what seemed to be the invincible girl Ino always portrayed herself as that it hit hard. It was almost as if the cracks were visible through her eyes, not just in her heart but in her soul. Something had broken the Yamanaka girl's heart, something or someone had cut her deep.

She had to give the girl credit though too, she hid it well day in and day out. All the times she had seen the girl before or talked to her she hadn't noticed this deep brokenness, it was only once she looked eye to eye with the girl, something she surprisingly had never done before. Even after all the times they had spared together or sat and had a meal with her boyfriend's team she realized now she had never once looked at the girl in the eye before.

But as fast as it had happened Ino had looked away, averting her eyes like she usually had trying to hide it once again. Probably praying Temari hadn't noticed, but she did. Just in that split second she noticed because it was a look she had seen another try to hide as well. Not herself, no her boyfriend. Shikamaru Nara, genius straigest of Kohona, heir to the Nara clan, and newly appointed right hand to the Hokage. Now this was not new news to her, she hadn't noticed at the very beginning when they had started dating almost a year ago now but about a month in she saw him once with this very girl, not doing anything simply talking to her but as she had aproched he tirned to look at her and he had that very same broken look in his eyes. Seeing that look in Ino's eyes as well now had only confirmed what she had already known. They had broken each other's hearts and by the looks of it they didn't necessarily choose to end like that. Her curiosity and need to know, getting the best of her, she went to the next and probably the only other person who could give her a full story. Choji Achimichi.

_Letting out a sigh he looked at her, his eyes unsure._

"_Are you one hundred percent sure you want to know about them? In this way? Shikamaru is your boyfriend after all…" She was anticipating that she hadn't known Choji very long but she already knew he tried to only tell people what was a need to know basis when he knew it would hurt them. One of the many ways he tried to protect people in his own special way._

"_I'm sure." She had made up her mind though. Part of her had known Shikamaru wasn't hers from the beginning. She knew he had tried to fake it best he could, that he had only wanted her but she saw the tiny details. The moments when his mind would wander and his heart would ache so badly it was visible through his actions, he was always a man of action over words._

"_Very well, I guess you do have somewhat of a right to know. They were together before you two started dating. In secret for a few years and then out in the open for a few months and they were in love. God, they were very much in love and it had made so much sense." Taking a breath he had looked at her trying to gage her reaction but she didn't look angry, she didn't cry and say it was unfair no she just stayed silent looking, waiting for him to continue._

"_Their lives had been intertwined from the beginning, everyone knew it. Now I'm not saying things like how the ino-shika-cho clans are intersected. Yes we were all connected in someway from the beginning but Ino and Shikamaru. Their connection was different, there was the obvious stuff like how they were born a few hours apart or how they lived side by side or how they always subconsciously seem to seek each other out. As time had passed and we got older I noticed small things about them. Now I don't know if they ever realized I knew way before they actually told me but they had let me in on their secret a few months after they had started going out. I had never seen Ino so at ease around anyone like she was with him. Not caring about her looks or her weight and when she did complain there were other people so I knew it was for an image. With Shikamaru it astounded me even more, it was like he finally had finished his puzzle and he was complete. He was genuinely relaxed, his mind wasn't wandering anywhere but with her in those moments. He paid attention to every word she said even if it wasn't obvious and I just overall had never seen either of them so content." The gravity of his words made so many things fall into place. Shikamaru was restless these days, it always seemed as if he was searching for more. Even if he was just laying on the roof watching the clouds he seemed worn. In the beginning she had just chalked it up to the workload but something told her there was more to it._

"_Then came the day they finally let it out in the open. My father was furious. It's been a rule since the formation of Ino-Shika-Cho. Love, romantic love between any is strictly forbidden as the next generation had to come to pass. They fought and they fought but even for them the rules would not change. So they split and I believe you know the rest."_

She had known the rest, she didn't need to hear about how it had shattered their very souls torn pieces of them that could only partially heal when with each other. It had always been visible but now the pieces came together. She had never resented either of them for it, they were soul mates she had known she was only borrowing. He was never truly hers from the beginning and she was ok with that.


	2. Her Keeper

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

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Now Sai like his "sister-in-law" Temari had come to somewhat the same understanding. He had never been good with emotions, over the years however he had done a lot of learning. Much of which from his newly now married, wife and head of their clan, Ino Yamanaka. Unlike Temari his knowledge of his wife's bond with her old teammate had not been long-standing, nor was it instantaneous.

At the time he had very recently learned many emotions and come to understand how a person's behaviour doesn't always potaray their feelings. He had come to find Ino maybe looking to spend some time with her since he knew they were both in the village the first tiny clue he had, however, when he had found her on the hill with Shikamaru he had taken note of the small touches and the peaceful sadness that seem to linger behind them even though both people had smiles gracing their features. At the time he thought nothing of it but made a mental note, curious to learn more about that behaviour. When he later asked Ino about it, just in curiosity she had merely smiled at him and said, "_Sorry Babe, can't help you there I don't know what you're talking about."_

But as time went on he observed more, he saw how his wife would always try to hide the longing that flooded in her eyes whenever September 23 rolled around. The way she would instinctively reach for Shikamaru when they would go out to eat with the Nara and Akimichi. He saw the way the Nara man would seek out his wife's gaze whenever he believed no one to be looking. The way the man was so good at "getting lost in thought," but not really because it was simply his own way of hiding the heartache in his eyes when he couldn't take it anymore.

Sure he was jealous, at least he used to be once he came to this conclusion. But it wasn't just those two he studied. He observed everyone close to them, Temari, Choji, Sakura, and that was ultimately what influenced him. They all _saw it_ but never _said _anything or _did_ anything. They simply let the two be, so one day he asked Temari because he though, _she's probably thought the same as me. How could her, in her case boyfriend love another other than herself. That's just not right… _Her answer shed a whole new light, a new concept he had never had a lesson on.

"_Sai. Ino does love you. Just in a different way, we will always be their second loves. Maybe even their third if children ever become part of the mix of either family. I know you've seen it. How they interact, how in sync they are. How it's like they complete each other that's because that's just how it's meant to be. We were never part of the plan Sai. It was supposed to be them but life got in the way." He had looked somewhat confused still, all she had said was that his wife was never meant to be his wife… sighing the edge of her lip curved upward._

"_Oh I don't know how Ino teaches you these things! I suppose to put it simply, you'll never be able to fill the void you see in her heart Sai. The only person that could ever do that is Shikamaru and obviously that's just isn't possible right now, so the best you can do for her is love her, hold her, and just be there for her. Let her do her best to keep herself together because that's what she needs right now. So either you can accept it for fight it but my suggestion. Just let it be, even if we both tried to fight it there's nothing we could ever do to change the bond those two have."_

He had spent night after night pondering Temari's words. Ino was on a mission so he was on his own and after two weeks when she returned he understood and he welcomed her with open arms like always. Looking over at his beloved wife, she was out the window walking back to their home he felt no pain nor did he feel anger or jealousy toward his coworker, fate had given her to Shikamaru from the beginning and she to him. He was simply keeping her safe until he could reach for her again and safe he would keep her.


	3. The Disease Called Heartbreak

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

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Inojin was twelve years old when he first noticed. Nothing major had happened but it was the small things he started to notice. In the academy, they had been learning about being observant of your surroundings and how important it was. Now, obviously they had meant on missions and things but Sadara had been talking about how it was a good idea just to get in the habit of it and he had agreed so from then on he had started just being more careful about watching the people around him and just what was going on around him, including at home. His parents had never been crazy about PDA, and boy was he glad for that. But he couldn't remember their soft touches and quick pecks on the lips ever seeming so… half-hearted. His father seemed the same as always, he had never been the most emotional person but that was what had made him fit so well with his mother. Apparently according to his Aunt Temari and Uncle Choji he used to be even more emotionless, which he couldn't even imagine… His Mother's behavior was what raised his curiosity. She seemed to be hiding something, she hadn't exactly done anything strange, she hadn't been crying or staring off into space but somehow there now seemed to be the smallest air of sadness around her that oddly enough always seem to become slightly more prominent whenever his Uncle Shikamaru was around.

They all three families of the legendary trio were at his house for dinner when he had overheard them. He hadn't meant to be eavesdropping! He was by no means the smartest kid around, definitely not when it came to emotions. Sadly it seems he had inherited some of his father's lack of understanding of human behavior… But he wasn't that bad either, how could he be with such an expressive Mom. Maybe his Uncle had done something to his Mom? That didn't sound right though, Uncle Shikamaru always said yes to whatever his Mom asked, no matter how much he grumbled about it.

_"I suppose to put it simply, you'll never be able to fill the void you see in her heart Sai. The only person that could ever do that is Shikamaru and obviously that's just isn't possible right now,"_

Void in her heart? The only one who can fix it is Uncle Shikamaru? None of it made sense to him, why was Uncle Shikamaru the only one who could fill the void? Weren't Dad and him enough?

Only years later had his questions been answered. He had gotten better at reading human behavior since then. He had decided he couldn't just watch his parents. This involved both Aunt Temari and Uncle Shikamaru too. The more he watched the more he saw, the small bits of jealousy that lingered in both his Father's and Aunt's eyes every time his Uncle and Mom would be together. The slightly stiff way all members of the Nara family interacted, the way Shikadai would have small traces of longing in his eyes whenever he saw Ino spending time or doting on her son but would never breathe a word about it. There were a lot of hidden secrets between the three families.

His family was always happy, his Mom still seemed mostly happy, his Dad well. He was happy, he loved both his wife and his son he was just not always the best at expressing it but overall they were happy. Unfortunately, it seemed like that wasn't the case for Shikadai. It all seemed to be tied together in one way or another, both his Aunt and his Dad were hurting they loved these two people infinitely but they had, could never receive the same. Their lovers were never theirs to begin with, they were on borrowed time and it seemed like everyone knew it. Uncle Choji had pity in his eyes when he looked at Dad or Aunt Temari, of course he had known. He had been the ever silent observer all along he grew up with Uncle Shikamaru and Mom. Uncle Choji always seem to carry everyone else's secrets too. He always seem to see everything, like how Inojin had begun to notice his Mom's pain at the young age of twelve. He had given the boy silent glances his eyes practically saying I'm here if you want to ask. A look that Inojin had merely shrugged off, being too offput to even ask about his newfound revelations. He noticed how Shikadai had noticed even earlier than he had, or how Temari was restless, how she was growing tired and she is hurting, how the Nara family no longer seem to hold much love at all. Never breathing a word though, just showing through his actions. How he always told the boys they were welcome anytime despite the fact that they had hardly spent anytime with his daughter in their younger years, silently giving Shikadai a place to run to when he whenever he needed.

Heartbreak was like a disease. It starts with two people in a bad situation and it spread quickly. It could jump with one look, one conversation. It only took another to fall in love with the infected and suddenly it's infected them too and there's nothing either can do about it because love always kept them tethered to one another. It breeds jealousy and pain, but it also breeds understanding, it forces those infected to take a step back and look at the whole picture. Heartbreak isn't pretty but it teaches a very important lesson to all infected and even those simply observing like himself or his Uncle Choji.

_Things don't always work out how we want them too or how they should have. You may fall in love with those you can't have but no matter what the world keeps going and sometimes there's nothing you can do but try your best to pick up the pieces of your heart and keep moving with it. But fate will always favour the original story._


	4. The Original Story

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

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Shikadai definitely had his father's brain. That much he knew, he was analytical, he could pass the academy classes in his sleep. He wasn't your average kid but sometimes he couldn't help but wish he was. When he was young home was everything it should be. It was warm, comforting, welcoming. His mom was never the most coddling mother out there but he never minded, that's how she was but she was never cold either. No that hadn't started until he was around four or maybe she had always been that way and she had just hidden it better. His parent's interactions had become brief and tense.

Something had happened to his father a long time ago, something that had made him always seem to have an air of bitterness more often than not, like he was made at the world. He still loved him though. He was often busy being the Hokage's main advisor and was seldom home but when he was sometimes he'd play shogi with him or they'd go cloud watching together and he treasured those memories because that was when the bitterness would slightly fade and maybe the odd time his father would crack one of his small smirks. The only time he could recall seeing his father truly at peace was when his Aunt Ino was around, even then there was always a hidden sadness that seemed to linger. He had asked Uncle Choji once, what could have possibly made his father like that.

"_People will always want what they can't have Shikadai and if you were to somehow get what you had always wanted more than anything only to have it ripped right out of your hands one day in an instant wouldn't you be kind of bitter too?"_

That was the only response he had received but being the observant kid he was he couldn't help but notice the slight sadness in his Uncle's eyes or the way they had drifted down the table to when his Aunt Ino and father had been quietly conversing at the other end when he had said this.

His mother too he had noticed was not happy a lot of the time. She was always kind to him but she was bitter too and even more so when his father would come home and then disappear again to the roof or the backyard to cloud watch. She was easily agitated, but she hadn't always been that way. He had tried to remember a time before and then had realized it had started when he was very young, he couldn't pinpoint exactly when it began but he could remember a time when she always had a warm smile and comforting ara but now that felt like a lifetime ago. Now she was always stern and seem to take more and more frequent trips to Sana like she was running from something.

It didn't seem to just be a problem between his parents though. He noticed it whenever the three families would get together, it was always easier to see connections when everyone was in one place. His father's gaze always seemed to linger on his Aunt Ino whenever he seemed to think so one was looking and her eyes always seemed sadder somehow whenever his mother would be with his father. The more he watched her the more he saw his Aunt in a whole new light. Nowadays she always seem to do a slight double-take when she saw him, or how there was always a more prominent gleam of sadness in her big blue eyes when she looked him in the eye.

It had been on one particular afternoon when he was around seven that all the pieces had finally made sense to him. His father had made a rare appearance at the flower shop, something about a message for his Aunt from the Hokage but as he stood in the doorway waiting for Inojin his curiosity got the best of him and so he stood there watching them interact and that's when he saw it. How his Aunt's hands reached for his father's hair and his father's own hand had reached for her cheek and his fingers so softly brushed over her face. It was the softest look he had ever seen on either of their faces and the touches of a lover. Then it all began to make sense, why his father always seemed bitter at the world or why his mother was running. She was trying to get always, away from the heartache, the heartache that her husband was never really hers, that she was merely borrowing him for an unspecified amount of time. His heart had already belonged to someone else and that someone else was his Aunt Ino.

He had his mother's eyes, that's why his Aunt always seemed to hurt when she saw them she had always wished they would be her eyes not his mother's.

When he had come home that night the moon already rising he found his mother was gone. _Probably back to Sana._ But his father, seeing his father had made his heartbreak all over again. He was laying in their backyard looking up at the night sky and he had looked broken,

"_If you were to somehow get what you had always wanted more than anything only to have it ripped right out of your hands one day in an instant wouldn't you be kind of bitter too?"_

To this day years later he was never told the full story but he didn't need to be. He had enough information to make a pretty good guess. His father and his Aunt were probably together long before he was even a thought but then something must have split them causing this chain of events. Causing all the heartache, the more he thought about it the more it made sense. They were practically made for each other, like yin and yang. Such opposites, he was calm and lazy and she was loud and bossy but together they made perfect sense. Then he thought about his mother and Uncle Sai, it was almost sad how similar they were to his father and Aunt. In the end his father had picked a woman that resembles her. His mother, a strong, independent, bossy woman, and his Aunt had picked a man that was quiet, strong, and calm like his father. They learned to love them, probably over time but it would never be true love. They were only stand-ins, substitutes because no matter how harsh that sounded it was the truth. In the end, they were only borrowing them for an unspecified amount of time. They would always make their way back to one another in the end because that's just how fate had written it and _fate will always favor the original story._


	5. The Wrong Ending

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

Hi readers! Hopefully, you're enjoying the story as much as I am so far :)

I think this story will now be coming towards a close as I am running out of ideas but if you have any for this story I'd gladly hear them please feel free to leave a review or message me if you have some ideas that could potentially continue the story!

Thanks and happy reading!

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Shikamaru never showed much emotion, he didn't like to run around telling everyone about his life, he didn't like to spend a lot of time wallowing in sadness either, but for tonight as he lay alone on his favorite hill for the first time in a while he thought maybe it was time he let himself.

He had been lying to himself every minute of every day for the past sixteen years. The love of his life wants Temari no Sabaku, it was Ino Yamanaka.

He remembered when he had come to that conclusion, sighing he tilted his head looking at the setting sun.

That felt like a lifetime ago… He was six when he fell for her. Now, of course, all he knew was that she was troublesome but he cared about her. A lot. He had started having these weird feelings whenever she would smile at him or hug him. He may have been just the tender age of six but his genius mind was already hard at work and by the time they became genin he had realized that just maybe he had a tiny crush on his first friend. His feelings hadn't gone away in all that time either but had grown stronger. By his first week on team ten his feelings had only become even more apparent when he had to come in closer contact with her, the first time he held her body during training he felt this overwhelming protectiveness.

_Great just another thing to add to the long list of troublesome things Ino makes me feel…_ and with that he had his conclusion. He, Shikamaru Nara was in love with loud, bossy, Ino Yamanaka.

Years went by with him continuing to love her from the shadows. He thought he had no chance, why would such a beautiful, popular girl like her want a boring, lazy guy like him? But he was wrong, so wrong. She loved him too.

He had been walking home from the Hokage tower. Turning the corner he paused surprised, Ino was stumbling down the street obviously drunk. _Probably came from the party at Naruto's. _He could hear the faint sounds of music from a few streets over. It was Sakura's birthday and Naruto had decided to throw a party, he had been invited but had been sent on a mission a few days prior and had just got back.

"Ino," He couldn't very well leave her there… Ino was not weak but her house was still a few streets away, besides he was going that way being her neighbor and all.

"Shi, Shika. Your back!" Nearly tripping over her own feet she reached for him, moving quickly he looped his arm around her trying to stabilize her. "I missed youu. You wan. Want to know a secret?" Looking down at her his heart thumped in his chest. Her big blue eyes were staring straight at him her hair falling out of its usual ponytail. She looked like a mess but that never did matter to him.

"I'm in love with you!" That froze him on the spot, she loved him? No, she was just drunk. She probably didn't even know what she was saying. Trying his best to keep his feelings in check he shifted her so he could carry her home.

That night he didn't sleep. No matter how much he tried to reason with himself he couldn't brush off her words. _She loved him!_ The logical part of his brain knew she probably didn't actually mean it but she had given him hope…

They hadn't spoken about it, she seemed to be avoiding him. She'd smile and wave but then take off always saying she was needed to the shop or the hospital. She remembered… he didn't think she'd have any memory of that night but she did…

Then it happened. He had been laying in his usual spot on the grassy hill when she found him. She just came and sat beside him without speaking a word. He waited, she would talk when she was ready she always did in the end.

"About the other night… I'm sorry." Sitting up he looked at her, why on earth would she be apologizing?

"Um I just, I wanted to say that it's true… What I said. I love you Shika and I get it if," So it was true! He had never felt more excited in his life.

"Sh, Ino I'm going to cut you off there, no need for that. I uh," Feeling sheepish all of a sudden he looked down. "I feel the same, I mean I. I love you too."

The best days of his life started that day. They were together in secret for a while, it was nice to just keep it to themselves for a while. Surprisingly, it had been a unanimous decision from both parties, but then they decided not to keep it a secret. Choza had found out and he was happy for them, that they were happy but then he broke them the worst news of their life. They couldn't be together, they were to be the next clan heads and the Ino-Shika-Cho must continue into the next generation. It was their duty… They fought and fought but the rule had been in place for decades, there was nothing they could do.

It was no secret that his marriage ended up far from perfect. He knew there wasn't much love in their house, he kept to himself most of the time and his wife missed her home. It was full of flaws and it had been from the start. He just tried to deny them, turn a blind eye and kept believing everything would work out. It never would though, not with the love and effort it was lacking. It wasn't that his wife wasn't necessarily happy he guessed, she had made many friends over the years and she had built herself a new home in Konoha but she still missed Sana and she knew. It was plain as day to him how much she actually knew. She had never actually breathed a word about it but her actions told him all he needed to know.

She knew that he cared about her, loved her even but he had never been _in love with her._ She was trying to find her own happiness and so she split her time more, traveling back and forth to Sana more frequently now that she Shikadai was older and spent more time out of the house, just like she was right now.

Thus leaving his son without a mother a large portion of the time to a father who kept to himself and hardly around. He was a mess, he turned out to be an awful father and an even worse husband.

No. He could have been better, he just had the wrong partner, the wrong spouse, the wrong woman, the wrong story and the wrong ending.

The classics are always better anyways...


	6. Just Not In This Lifetime

_Disclaimer: This fanfiction and image used for the cover is merely written for the enjoyment of the author and readers and is in no way associated with the creators or producers of Naruto, no copyright infringement is intended._

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Maybe in another lifetime she could have had him, maybe in another lifetime Shikadai's eyes could have been the baby blues that stared her back in the mirror, maybe in another lifetime Inojin and Shikadai would have been brothers by blood and not just family ties.

He had always been by her side for as long as she could remember. He had been born only a few hours before her, they grew up side by side, literally. They went to the academy together, we're on the same team so naturally, they became good friends, they learned each other inside and out and soon enough that friendship turned into love. But that was a lifetime ago… Now they were both married to other people and the Ino-Shika-Cho bond lived to see another generation because after all, _that was what mattered most_… At least that's what everyone said but she knew in her heart, it wasn't what _she_ believed.

There was nothing she could do about it anymore though, looking down at the flowers she was putting together for her order she felt her heartache. They fought it, they fought tooth and nail but even with Shika's intelligence and she scheming they still came up empty-handed. No one won with heartbreak, he was married to Temari and she to Sai but no one was truly happy. The Nara household held very little love, it was a broken home but they were not Temari and Shikamaru. As far as anyone could tell she and Sai are happily married, in love even. But she was an actress and Sai… He knew, he understood in his own way, he had known for a long time that she loved him. She truly did in her own way but she was not _in love with him._

Sometimes she felt guilty for being with Sai. He signed up for a loving marriage not a relationship of mutual understanding, not for a wife who's heart had never and would never be his own. She felt guilty because she was using him, _he was her stand-in, just a placeholder for another. _

"_Shika? Now what, I can't I don't want to do this! How am I supposed to love another, I love you and you alone." Tucking her head in the crook of her boyfri-, well now ex-boyfriend's neck she let the tears fall. How could they do this! It wasn't fair…_

"_Hey. look," feeling his gaze on her she lifted her head to look him in the eyes, her heart broke even more. He was crying… Shikamaru Nara never cried. "I'm not going to lie to you. It's going to be hard but you know I'll always be there for you. No matter what I'll be by your side just like I've always been." Tucking her head back in his chest she felt his tears on her neck and his arms tighten around her, this wasn't how it was supposed to be…_

She was supposed to marry the love of her life, she was supposed to grow old with her best friend and lover. Since she was a little girl she believed true love conquers all but then reality came crashing in, ruining everything. Sometimes no matter how fate has written things they just do not come to pass because this, even her twelve-year-old son could tell was just not the right ending.


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